A new survey suggests that women first go online to check out online reviews of certain products and items for information before they go out and buy them. The said survey was conducted by iVillage and SheSpeaks, two online companies that put their focus on women. It suggests that online product reviews and recommendations may have a deep impact and a major influence on what women consumers buy.

According to the survey, around 77 percent of the women who were surveyed said that they are more likely to search for a product at stores after reading a review of the said product from an online message board or forum. About 62 percent said that they are more likely to buy a product from a store after reading about it on online message boards or forums.

The online survey involved 1,581US women respondents. The survey results indicated that women spend more time with consumer reports and brand message boards than they spend on Facebook and Twitter when it comes to product data. A major factor that influences the respondents’ product purchases were peer recommendations on message boards. 67 percent of those who responded to the online survey cited it as a big factor on what products to buy in stores. In addition, 68 percent of the survey respondents also said that online coupons is another major factor in influencing their purchases.